20141214法親關懷‧再造之恩Loving, Thoughtful Care to Relieve the Suffering from Illness
I’ve been visiting Tzu Chi volunteers around Taiwan for over a week now. All throughout my trip, I’ve heard about Tzu Chi volunteers’ diligence in learning and practicing the Dharma. I heard many stories about volunteers supporting one another and being grateful to each other. It’s wonderful to hear these. But, with there being many volunteers, there will be some who have become ill. Being stricken with illness inevitably creates suffering.
It isn’t only the ill person who suffers. The whole family suffers with him or her. And it isn’t only they who are in suffering, other volunteers also are pained by their fellow volunteer’s suffering. Throughout my trip, I have witnessed the pain and torment illness causes, but also the warm love and care that fellow volunteers are giving to one another. It is truly heartwarming.
Take the example of a volunteer in Dajia District, Taichung. She suffered an illness and came to Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital. After careful examinations, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, but it was too late to help her. Her cancer cells have spread to the brain and the bones. As soon as the diagnosis was made, she was hospitalized by Dr.Chien. She said, “My son is getting married in 5 days, how can I stay in the hospital?”
But her fellow volunteers in Dajia told her: “ Do not worry. The wedding is coming up and there is much work to be done. We can share your workload and help sort things out for your family, making sure everything gets done properly. We can help make all the arrangements for you. All you need to do is ask your doctor for permission to attend the wedding for a few hours as the mother-in-law. Just leave the rest of the work to us. We will prepare everything perfectly.”
See, Tzu Chi volunteers are like one big family accompanying one another with love in times of need. The joyful wedding of this family was completed with help from the big Tzu Chi family.
The person we saw on stage is our volunteer, Liqing, from Wufeng. For many years, she has been suffering from recurring malignant tumors. Fortunately, doctors in Tzu Chi’s hospital diagnosed her illness and performed surgeries to remove her tumors. Though it is hard to treat her recurrent tumors, our medical team is determined to help her. We saw Tzu Chi’s doctors and fellow Tzu Chi volunteers being there with her, giving her support and love. I hope, with so many people praying for her, she can quickly recover and regain her health. She and her husband are very dedicated in serving people as a living bodhisattva and seize their time to do good deeds.
Living in this world, with every day that passes, we lose a day. For every day that passes, we have one day less on this Earth. Our time in life diminishes with every day that goes by. So, with the way time keeps passing, every time I am here for the Year-end Blessings Ceremony, it means I have one year less to continue such ceremonies. How many more ceremonies will there be? How many more times can I stand here like this? With each year’s ceremony, it means I’ll be here one less time. So, in life, we really must take hold of the time we have.
Tzu Chi has been established for almost 50 years. During these four decades, Tzu Chi’s Four Missions have been set up and our Eight Footprints are also up and running.
We also saw Fuding, China. Fuding Hospital also practices Tzu Chi’s spirit and values in their hospital. Many years ago, we helped them build a medical building. Many people say that Tzu Chi uses donations it receives to help people abroad, but Tzu Chi did not fund this construction from Taiwan. The funds that made this project possible were raised by Tzu Chi volunteers in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Fujian.
However, the former Supt. Ji and the current Supt. Li always say that their spirit and values came from Tzu Chi in Taiwan. They integrate humanistic values in their hospital just like any other Tzu Chi hospital. We saw that every time they have incoming doctors and nurses, they hold a three-day orientation on Tzu Chi’s spirit and values of medical care. They learn everything from how to wear their uniform properly to how to carry themselves, and even how to have proper eating manners. The superintendent, assistant superintendents, and heads of departments, do as our Tzu Chi doctors in Taiwan do --- You see, they also showed the new staff respect and care, then encouraged everyone to show Great Love to the patients.
After three days of training, new staff members learn to serve as a volunteer by following experienced Tzu Chi volunteers to learn how to care and tend to each patient with love. Now the hospital is a model for patient-based care in China. Many health professionals go there to study this hospital’s medical spirit and values. In the hospital, we also see Jing Si Aphorism posters on the walls. They follow Tzu Chi’s path very closely and keep very up-to-date on Tzu Chi’s latest development.
So now, Fuding Hospital is considered exemplary for its humanistic medical culture. Their medical team is also very thoughtful. When Tzu Chi’s care recipient was admitted to the hospital and was needing extra nourishment, the doctor herself personally cooked and prepared special nutritious meals for him. This is truly touching.
From this, we see that in medical care, love and thoughtfulness is all the more important in caring for patients. Coming to Dalin this time, I heard your medical reports this morning on how you treated one critically ill patient, performed surgery to remove his tumor, and then transferred bone, muscle, tendons and skin from the leg and transplanted them to reconstruct his face and neck. Your wondrous medical skills have given this patient a new lease on life. I am truly grateful to you.
All in all, we all have a common goal to further improve our quality of care. I am very grateful to you for doing this.
Nowadays, due to my time and schedule, it is harder for me to make trips, but I hope to hear more of your sharings when I return to Hualien, as you have received many awards this year. At noontime, I heard that our nurses have received many awards. Actually, we don’t do it for the awards. Our goal is to raise our entire hospital’s standard of service. Do you understand what I mean?
In a word, as long as you all work together with harmony and love, you can overcome all difficulties. Let us all work together toward our goal. When we work together and are united, we can make our hospital, our very beautiful home.
首頁 